The Influence of a Sister's Breastfeeding Experience on a Mother's Breastfeeding Behavior: Is There an Intragenerational Effect?

Intergenerational transmission of breastfeeding attitudes and behaviors from mother to daughter are well known, but there is limited research on intragenerational transmission of breastfeeding attitudes or behaviors within families. This study aimed to understand how initiation and duration of breastfeeding are influenced by past breastfeeding experiences of sisters among women in a longitudinal population-based cohort. Data were obtained on women enrolled in the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) who had at least one child enrolled in a substudy of cohort members' children.